


Control yourself

by Kimmy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Gift Fic, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALOME!!!!, M/M, pre-Malace if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 22:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11023305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmy/pseuds/Kimmy
Summary: Magnus and Jace learn not to kill each other.





	Control yourself

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST SHINING SHUMSHINES ON TWITTER!!!!!!!!

 

“Where’s Alec?” Jace asks, yawning and wiping sleep from his eyes. 

 

“At the Institute.”

 

Magnus is already up and doing something on his laptop, because Magnus has a habit of sleeping  _ on top of  _ Alec and there’s no way of getting out of bed for the Shadowhunter without waking him.

 

Magnus Bane is a human octopus. 

 

Alec never saw that coming.

 

“What about you?” Magnus implores, eyes never leaving the screen. “You’re not going?”

 

Jace stares into his mug for a while, as if wondering what the question was, clearly only half awake still.

 

“No… No, I have a day off. I needed to cover for Raj for a week last month after he got injured on a mission so I’m getting that back. It’s nice. I get to sleep in. Can’t remember last time I did that, at the Institute it’s always too noisy to sleep even if you’re not on duty.”

 

Magnus humms, pushing a few keys and focusing on the laptop, before finally looking at Jace with a smirk as he replies.

 

“Well, I have very good sound proofing spells on.”

 

Jace scrunches his nose in a scarily adorable way that reminds Magnus of a tired Alec and glares at Magnus.

 

“Yeah, thanks for that man. Too much information.”

 

Magnus sends him a wink and turns his attention back to the screen, allowing the blond to have bacon and coffee bring him back to life.

 

His eyes drift back to the Shadowhunter as Jace puts the mug down and stretches, allowing the warlock a good look at his muscles. Admittedly, Magnus can see why Alec finds Jace attractive.

 

Such a shame his pretty face goes with such a horrible personality.

 

“What are you working on?”

 

Magnus’ eyes dart to Jace for a moment, making sure the man is still in the kitchen, before coming back to the screen.

 

“Important stuff. Some contracts for a client.”

 

In a fluid motion, he closes the laptop with kitten videos on it and turns to walk out of the room.

 

“I’ll be in my office. Make yourself useful, Blondie and cook the dinner today, why don’t you?”

 

And with that, he disappears.

 

***

 

So maybe Magnus doesn’t really  _ hate _ Jace. And he suspects Jace doesn’t really hate him either.

 

Or so Alec assured him.

 

But they aren’t exactly friends, obviously. Magnus may allow Jace to live in the loft but their truce is fragile at best. They are just too different, opposing characters, with little in common but a group of friends.

 

But if reluctantly, Magnus has to admit, their relationship has become a lot different since Jace moved in.

 

Magnus knows Jace was through a lot of shit. He knows he has grown up with an abusive homicidal maniac for a father and then was forced to fight against him, only to find out the girl he fell for was his sister and eventually find out he didn’t know his own name.

 

He had to deal with the guilt of knowing he activated the Soul Sword, even if he didn’t mean it. He had to deal with the fact he had to kill the man who was actual Jonathan Morgenstern and watch evil fade from his eyes seconds before life left him.

 

He watched the relationship of the only parents he really knew fall apart and his sister battle addiction.

 

Magnus had to admit that in the end, he admired Jace’s strength for enduring everything life has thrown at him and coming out of it almost unscathed.

 

So he understood why Jace would rather stay in the loft with them after Izzy moved to Idris with Simon to start a diplomatic career and Max was sent to the Academy for a year before he was ready to join the NYC Institute.

 

Right now Alec was all Jace had left in the city. And Alec moved in with Magnus, so was Jace supposed to do but stay? They were a package deal. Their relationship was different from parabatai Magnus has known in teh past but not any less strong.

 

Besides, Jace staying with them was making Alec happy and the loft was big enough they could make it work well.

 

So no, Magnus doesn’t really mind.

 

And sue him. Maybe he even likes Jace.

 

***

 

It’s a few weeks after Jace uncovers the fact Magnus watches kitten videos instead of working, that the two of them discover a second thing they have in common (the first one being Alec & co.) and really, it’s a wonder it took them so long.

 

Fighting.

 

It’s another thing that somehow brings them together. Both Jace and Magnus enjoy fighting the way Alec doesn’t, finding joy in the battle when off duty.

 

Jace soon finds out Magnus has become quite skilled even without his magic in the years he’s been alive, and Magnus learns to not underestimate Jace’s enhanced pure Angelic blood skills.

 

They take to training together often, while Alec sits aside reading something or shamelessly ogling them.

 

It’s the ultimate end to what finally ends up being a friendship between them, and neither of them bothers to deny it anymore.

 

They bond through mutual love to Alec and violence.

 

***

 

They are both in the Institute that day. Jace is back to work, although on paperwork duty only, and frankly, he’s not sure himself why Magnus is there, but Alec training shirtless may have something to do with it.

 

They are both sprawled on the floor, leaning against the wall and watching Alec send half-hearted glares at their lazy asses.

 

There is another person in the room, some young girl who was sent to the Institute by the Clave to finish her training and immediately got on everyone’s nerves.

 

Magnus had to stop Jace from killing her more than once but in the end, everyone opted to ignore her, because it became obvious quite quickly that despite the fact she’s a good fighter, there is no way she will pass intellectual tests and moral expectations of the Clave.

 

Nethertheless, it is sometimes hard. Easier so for Magnus, having known enough people like that over the years, but still hard. But punching the girl won’t help Jace, no matter if she insulted Raj because of his skin colour, claimed Lydia is incompetent because she’s blonde or accused Izzy of dressing like a slut again.

 

But then she takes it a step too far.

 

Distracted by Magnus being in the room, Alec’s next punch hits the bag from the wrong angle and it backfires, hitting him square in the face.

 

Usually, Magnus and Jace would laugh at the situation, but the the girl has to speak.

 

“What kind of a Shadowhunter you are, to be defeated by a punching bag? Honestly it’s no wonder this Institute is as pathetic as it is with you at its Head…”

 

Within seconds Magnus is standing, ready to throw himself at her, because this time she insulted Alec, but this time, it’s Jace who holds him back.

 

He puts his hand on Magnus' shoulder, reminding him to keep control until she goes away, and drawing the warlock into the hug.

 

"I just really wanted to kill her, Jace!" 

 

"I know, Mags. I know.”

 

Alec’s laughter is what eventually brings their attention back to the man, now approaching them with a huge grin on his face.

 

“You two, are absolutely ridiculous. But I love you, morons, so never change. Now excuse me, I have a Shadowhunter-in-training to fire.”

 

As they watch Alec follow the girl to give her a lesson of a lifetime, Jace and Magnus find themselves smiling too. Yes, it was initially Alec who helped them tolerate each other, but it’s not that bad, to be friends.


End file.
